Celebrating Earth Day this year has been very special to me, and I’m happy to have partnered with Mazda in my efforts.
This year, we decided to make a full effort in the days leading up to Earth Month, Earth Week, and Earth Day. We decided to put into motion our desire for a community garden that we’ve been talking about ever since we saw that coveted piece of land across the street from our house. Mazda USA and I connected so that they could help us get a start on hauling the items for it. They loaned me a Mazda CX5 Grand Touring for a week, and what a week it was in the planting sense of things.
I will say, that I was a bit concerned about the size of the vehicle when it was dropped off as we would be getting lumber, soil, and tools for the start of our project. We still want to put 4×8 raised beds, but the compact size of the car wouldn’t have allowed for 8 foot boards to be loaded safely into the car. So on the fly, we called an audible and decided to insert 4×4 beds instead. Good call, I’d say.
The motherboard (dashboard for those of you into real names) was glorious, but I do have to say that I was a bit disappointed that the car does not charge mobile devices while it’s turned off. The radio also doesn’t turn off, you can mute, or turn the volume all the way down, but there is no turning it off. Which was fine, because I was able to listen to Prince music fully without worrying about accidentally turning the radio off.
We started with a full tank of gas and ended with enough gas to make it to have 40 miles left at the end of the week before needing to fill up. Thanks to 25 mpg in the city. Low emissions and carbon footprint are just as important as the community garden that we were starting, right?
I’m always wary of crossover vehicles that state they can fit five, because I still have three children in carseats. Well, all three carseats fit into the back seat, AND Mr. Houseful had enough legroom to be comfortable. Dennis was even able to fit comfortably into the cargo area of the car. Given the fact that we had to take him for a great washing and hair clipping, it was important to keep him enclosed as much as possible.
While we did have to lose two kids in order to purchase the supplies for the first four raised beds in the startup garden, we were able to fit 16 2x4s 11 bags of garden soil, landscaping fabric, and a bunch of plants. That’s quite a bit for this small but mighty vehicle. Even Lil’ Miss looks impressed.
I would love to get all of this area mulched out sooner than later, since the last danger of frost for Chicago is…wait for it…May 15th. While I couldn’t keep the vehicle for that long, I do know that we are grateful for the ability to use it for a week for our community garden endeavor. I did explain that it MIGHT smell like mulch when they got it back, but we didn’t have a chance to get that underway. I’m thinking that the detail person lucked out royally on that one.
Last week we participated in a block clean, and all of the cars shown were participants, including the Mazda leading the pack. We were able to bag lots of debris, and tons of stuff that could have been used for compost, but time didn’t permit that.
Given that we were able to fit five of our six person family into this car, I would say that this would be a great SECOND car for us, or a perfect first car for families of four. It retails for approximately $30,000 fully loaded. The Grand Touring is smooth, and the sound and locations of all important buttons and knows is great for those of us with short stature. Check it out on Mazda USA today!